>
Kiwi soccer superstar Sonny Bill Williams has won a battle to build a multi-million dollar mosque in south Sydney after a fight with residents who opposed its development.
The Hurstville Masjid mosque and community center is to be built on Botany St in Carlton, following a long battle with the Georges River Council which ended in the Land and Environment Tribunal.
The initial proposal to build it was rejected in December 2021.
Twelve residents opposed the mosque, raising concerns about the loss of privacy and increased noise, saying the plans were “overdevelopment” of the site.
Sonny Bill Williams, pictured here with his wife Alana and their children Imaan, 5, Aisha, 3, and Zaid, 2, believes that locals’ complaints against the mosque are based on racism and bigotry.
The new mosque can accommodate 120 people for prayers between 5 am and 10:30 pm, seven days a week.
But supporters of the development, including Williams, challenged the decision, and on 6 September NSW Land and Environment Tribunal Commissioner Susan O’Neill found that the applicants had addressed issues raised by the development. George River Council.
The app has now been given the green light.
Williams said the mosque is long overdue for the large local Muslim community who currently must travel across the city to pray.
“It’s been a roller coaster to get this Masjid up and running, maybe four or five years,” Williams said.
“As a proud Muslim in this area, this is something I have been waiting for a long time.”
Last year, locals left signs opposite the mosque, but Williams hit back, saying the complaints were based on racism and bigotry.
“Racism is truly alive in Botany St, Carlton Sydney,” Williams, 36, posted on his Instagram page along with a photo of himself next to some of the signs on the site.
Sonny Bill lashed out at ‘racist fearmongers’ trying to blockad a mosque in South Sydney
‘God willing, very soon we will be praying 365 DAYS, 5 TIMES A DAY in our new Mosque. May the Most High eradicate racism from our society.’
However, area residents insisted that their opposition had nothing to do with race or religion, but rather to prevent a deadly increase in traffic.
Williams, who played in the All Blacks union and in the league with the Canterbury Bulldogs and Sydney Roosters, converted to Islam in 2009 while playing in France.
He said his experience of living and working in the Islamic community during his four seasons with the Bulldogs led him to convert.
His mother Lee and brother John have also since converted to religion, as has the father of the South African-born wife of three, former model Alana, 28.
“I grew up Christian, and to be honest, I always felt a bit uncomfortable,” he admitted on an Islamic podcast two years ago.
“Muslims are people just like us, they’re human, but their religion is, when you really look at it, it’s beautiful.”
But he added: “It’s hard to talk about racism and hate because so many Western countries were born on racism and hate.”
Sonny Bill Williams, pictured here playing rugby league with Canterbury Bulldogs, converted to Islam in 2009 while playing rugby union for Toulon in France.
Sonny Bill Williams, pictured left praying on the pitch with teammate Ofa Tu’ungafasi, also played rugby union for the All Blacks.
The new mosque can accommodate 120 people for prayers between 5 am and 10:30 pm, seven days a week.
He dismissed neighbors’ claims about increased traffic, saying there was already a school on the same street and another nearby.
“There are thousands of Muslim families in the area, and we don’t have a place where we can go to pray,” Williams told the daily telegraph. ‘Unfortunately, this is spreading fear.
‘The Muslim community has been here in the Carlton area since the 1950s and has never had a mosque.
‘The more places of worship, Christian churches, Jewish synagogues, mosques in the area makes me happy because I know that people are taught good morals and ethics.’
Williams, pictured here in New Zealand after the Christchurch attack, said his experience of living in the Islamic community during his four seasons with the Bulldogs led him to become
Sonny Bill Williams (pictured here training with the Sydney Roosters) lives in the Carlton area and says a mosque is long overdue for the large local Muslim community who currently must travel across town to pray.